ATP executive chairman and president Chris Kermode says the organisation absolutely rejects any suggestion evidence of tennis match-fixing has been suppressed.

Kermode was responding to allegations of widespread match-fixing at the top level of tennis released hours before the start of the Australian Open, in a BuzzFeed News and BBC report on Monday.

“The Tennis Integrity Unit and the tennis authorities absolutely reject any suggestion that evidence of match fixing has been suppressed for any reason or isn’t being thoroughly investigated,” he told reporters in Melbourne.

“While the BBC and BuzzFeed reports mainly refer to events from about 10 years ago, we will investigate any new information and we always do.”

“We are so confident that there is nothing in the sport that has been suppressed.

“We are confident that the Tennis Integrity Unit is doing what it can, and tackles this issue very, very seriously.

“I think it will be seen that tennis is in a very, very good place and we are acting accordingly.”

Secret files leaked to BuzzFeed News and the BBC allegedly show evidence of match rigging amongst some of the world’s high-ranking players, including grand slam winners.

According to the report, authorities have been repeatedly warned about 16 players ranked in the top 50 who were suspected of throwing matches.

Half of the players are due to play at the Open beginning on Monday and all of the players were allowed to continue competing despite continued warnings.

The match-fixing was orchestrated by gambling syndicates in Russia and Italy and involved prominent players and included three matches at Wimbledon.

The investigation is based on a cache of leaked documents from an enquiry set up by the ATP in 2007 to look into claims of match fixing and suspicious gambling.